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Soon the planets will align and then everything will stay pretty much the same, sorry dark wizards.
很快，行星们就会连成一线，之后一切都会保持原样，抱歉，黑暗巫师。
Anthony here for dnews.
大家好，我是安东尼，欢迎大家收看dnews。
And if you head outside this Sunday May 26th and look up in the west after sunset, you will be able to see a triple planetary conjunction.
周日，也就是5月26日，如果那天日落后大家抬头往西看的话，就会看到三星相合的景象。
Jupiter Mercury and Venus are going to form a triangle.
届时，木星，水星和金星将形成一个三角形。
And then if you keep watching at sunset over the following few days, you'll actually watch them appear to dance and move around each other.
如果接下来的几天里大家继续在日落十分进行观测的话，还会看到三颗星围绕彼此跳动。
Super amazing, right?
超级神奇有木有?
It seems like it would be incredibly rare for three planets to come together that closely,
三颗行星如此紧密地聚在一起似乎是一件非常罕见的事情，
but triple planet conjunctions actually happen every two years.
但其实，三星相合的景象每两年就会发生一次。
so the last one was in May 2011 and the next one will be in October of 2015.
上一次是在2011年5月，下一次是在2015年10月。
what's particularly nice about this one is that Jupiter Mercury and Venus are the brightest planets viewed from Earth,
这次的情况特殊就特殊在木星，水星和金星是从地球上观测到的最亮的行星，
so you can see the whole event without any special equipment.
所以，大家不用借助任何特殊设备就能看到相合的整个过程。
but you should definitely grab some binoculars or a telescope if you can.
但如果可以的话，大家还是务必带上双筒望远镜什么的为好。
So, three planets lineup every two years and the last time four planets were in conjunction was 2002 and the next time we'll see that is in 2040.
三星相合的景象每两年就会出现一次，上一次四星相合是2002年，而下一次四星相合就要等到2040年了。
so how rare is it for all of our planets to lineup and what happens when they do?
那么，所有行星排成一列的情况有多罕见呢？届时又会发生什么呢?
A change in gravity? Floods? Earthquakes? The total flipping of our magnetic poles? The birth of the giant space Falcon that will destroy the universe in its talons?
重力发生变化？洪水？地震？地球磁场翻转？又或是能用其魔爪毁灭整个宇宙的巨型太空猎鹰的诞生?
Well for as much as fantasy and ancient cultures like to put significance on planetary alignment,
尽管很多奇幻小说和古代文化都喜欢把行星连珠描绘成大事件，
it doesn't actually happen, I mean, at least not a perfect alignment
但这种情况其实并不会发生，我的意思是，它们至少不会出现在一条完美的直线上，
where you can draw a straight line through the center of all eight planets, or nine if you're still in denial about Pluto.
以致于我们能够画一条同时穿过所有八颗行星，如果你对冥王星的问题仍持否认态度的话就是九颗，的中心的直线。
See, all the planets rotate around the Sun on a different axis,
原来啊，所有的行星都在不同的轴线上绕着太阳公转，
so the more planets you want to considered aligned, the more you have to be loose with your definition.
所以，你希望连线的行星越多，你对“连线”的定义就要越宽。
Having all the planets in anything even close to a rough line takes millions of years.
所有的行星同时出现在哪怕只是接近直线的位置都需要数百万年的时间。
As far as what happens when they do align, the answer is not much.
至于它们连线后会发生什么，答案是，并不会发生多大变化。
See planets are big, yeah?
行星是很大，对吧?
but they're really far away and the farther away something is, the less its gravitational pull can affect us.
但它们彼此又很遥远，而且，距离我们越远的行星，其引力对我们的影响也越小。
Venus is closest to us and when it's at its absolute nearest, it's 92 million kilometers away.
金星离我们最近，但即便是金星到了离我们最近的位置时，离我们的距离尚且还有9200万公里呢。
So you take all the planets, you line them up the closest you can under the best theoretical conditions,
所以，要把所有的行星都考虑进去，在最理想的条件下尽可能地排列成一条直线，
and they only add about another two percent to the pull of our tides,
结果也只会给我们的潮汐增加2%的拉力，
and that's only while everything is exactly kind up.
而这种情况还是在一切都很顺利的情况下才会出现。
So, not a big or lasting change.
所以，届时并不会发生巨大的变化，也不会发生持久的变化。
As a matter of fact on February 4th 1962, the Sun, the moon, the closest six planets in our solar system
事实上，1962年2月4日，太阳，月球以及太阳系中离我们最近的六颗行星，
all aligned within 17 degrees of each other and we had a solar eclipse and we're still here spinning.
的确排在了和直线的夹角只有17度的一条曲线上，当时也只出现了日食，而现在我们也照样在围绕着太阳转。
so go forth into the night on Sunday and know that you can watch the conjunction without fear of spinning off into space.
所以，周日晚上大家尽管放心大胆地出去观测，要知道，你们是可以在观测的时候不用担心飞入太空的。
But let's all check in on Monday morning over on facebook.com/dnews just to make sure we're all safe,
让周一早上大家还是登陆一下facebook.com/dnews，确认大伙儿都在吧。
I'm not superstitious man but you never can tell.
我并不是会迷信的人，但……谁又说得准呢。
